Move Along
by Nikki Flinn
Summary: Book 3 in the Rejected Youth Series. School is back in session and Draco Malfoy has a plan. Umbridge is trying to discredit Harry, Ron is trying to find a girlfriend and Hermione is trying to keep her hands off Cedric. It's going to be a rough year.
1. Go Ahead As You Waste Your Days With Thi

Move Along

Book 3 in the Rejected Youth Series

Recap- Draco has fallen for Ginny. Hermione, who discovered this, blackmailed him until he ended up admitting his feelings. During the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Draco and Ginny had a bit of a tift. Draco, determined to prove he wasn't who she thought he was, crashed the final leg of the tournament, intending to keep Harry and Cedric from the Cup. He managed to save Cedric but he and Harry got pulled through the portkey. Draco had to face his father who tried to kill him. Draco and Harry managed to get out of there, but not before Voldemort was reborn. Draco was cursed but Ginny managed to remove the curse. Draco, Ginny and Cedric were entrusted to Sirius Black for the summer to keep them safe. Sirius trained the three in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lucius however, tricked Draco out of the safe house and tried to kill him. Before he could, Ginny showed up to help Draco. Just when things were looking bleak for both of them, Narcissa and Sirius showed up. Sirius sent Draco and Ginny back to the safe house and sent Narcissa to Bellatrix. Bella was furious that Narcissa was hurt, especially as she had trusted Lucius to take care of her. She more or less declares war on Lucius.

The summer faded away and we rejoin the characters a few weeks later, at the start of school...

Chapter One

Go Ahead As You Waste Your Days With Thinking

"Well, I think I'm going to throw up now," Ron announced, taking a seat in the compartment. He scowled at Draco who was sitting a bit too close to Ginny for his liking, but then 'too close' in Ron-World meant that the pair were still on the same train.

"What's wrong, mate?" Harry asked, not looking up from the book he was reading. He'd apparently forgotten to finish his summer reading and was frantically catching up. Hermione, who'd finished her reading within hours of the end of fourth year, was glancing over occasionally and giving him helpful little hints. Cedric, beside her, just seemed thrilled with life in general.

"I just saw Pansy and Neville sucking face," he said solemnly.

"Ouch," Draco said.

"There are just some things you can never unsee," Hermione put in helpfully.

"Indeed," Ron intoned.

"So what do we do now?" Ginny asked.

"We wait until we're old enough and join the Order," Ron said then went pale.

"What's the Order?" Ginny, Draco and Cedric all asked at once.

"You're really put your foot in it," Harry pointed out from behind his book.

"Oh, stuff it," Ron grumbled.

"We- Ron, mind filling us in?" Draco asked.

Ron looked at Hermione and Harry for guidance. Harry remained engrossed in his book and Hermione shrugged. "You might as well tell them. I think they're done enough in the past couple of months to warrant at least a _little_ bit of trust."

"Yeah, since that wanker spent the whole summer stealing time from my godfather," Harry said. He and Draco still didn't get on which was hardly surprising but there was a decided lack of malice to his tone.

"Potter, you can't imagine how it grieves me to steal away one of your father figures but I did have a good reason," Draco drawled.

"Have you managed to kill your father figure yet?" Harry asked.

"Working on it," Draco said.

"I don't think we should discuss the Order here," Ron said.

"I agree with We-Ron," Draco said.

"I still don't like you," Ron said.

"Noted," Draco replied and slung his arm around Ginny who just rolled her eyes.

"So, who's to be our new DADA teacher?" Cedric said in an obvious attempt to cut through the tension between Ron and Draco.

"I heard it was some woman named Umbridge," Harry said.

"Oh fuck me," Draco groaned.

"What?" Harry said, looking somewhat amused.

"Umbridge is a Voldemort supporter."

"That can't be," Ron said. "Dumbledore would never hire a supporter of You-Know-Who."

"We're all adults here, Red, we can say his name," Draco snapped.

"Just because I'm not a former Death Eater-"

"I was never a Death Eater!"

"Boys!" Ginny snapped and both fell instantly silent. Ron had a very nice grasp of Ginny's anger and Draco was becoming familiar with the finer aspects of her temper. "Draco, I know you know a lot about this sort of thing, but is there anyway you could be mistaken? I mean, Dumbledore wouldn't do that."

"Umbridge has never been proved," Draco sighed. "She doesn't have the mark, as far as I know and she put on a good show the last time. I'm not saying she isn't good, but she certainly veers away from it when she can. Just keep an eye on her, Potter."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because she's going to do everything she can to discredit you."

"About what? The Voldemort thing?"

"Yeah."

"But why bother? You were there and Cedric and Ginny were there this summer."

"Cedric and Ginny were in the presence of a known fugitive when we faced Lucius. No offense, but that hardly makes them look good."

"But what about you?" Harry demanded.

"Potter, I'm on your side, this once but think how that's going to look to anyone in charge? The son of _the_ Death Eater suddenly takes your side? Not only that, but I'm dating a Weasley. There's no way I'm going to be taken seriously."

"Then what do we do?" Hermione asked after a brief silence.

"We keep trying," Draco said firmly.

"What about the boy who cried dragon?" Ginny asked tiredly. "Just because you keep telling them the truth, doesn't mean they're going to believe it. And the more you say it, the less inclined they will be to believe it."

"You're forgetting your history, my pet," Draco said with a vicious looking smile. "The bigger the lie, the more people believe it. And I've got quite a whopper planned."

(A/N: Tada! I completely forgot about this story then I was oh, I have to update that. So here you go, written in forty minutes at my work computer. Anyway, as you can see, the story is going to follow HP&tOotP at least a little bit. Harry and co were our with the Order for parts of the summer at least and like Draco said, almost no-one believes that Voldie-kins is back. I'm going to stay away from a lot of the story parts, just because you already know them and if you don't, go watch the movie and you'll get the idea. Hope you like it so far!


	2. When You Fall Everyone Stands

Chapter Two

When You Fall, Everyone Stands

"So what exactly are we doing here?" Harry asked.

Draco lay on a couch in the Room of Requirements. He'd given Harry instructions to meet him here with people he trusted. Ron, Hermione, Cedric and Ginny all stood with him. Pansy sat on the arm rest of the couch and Neville stood beside her, their hands intertwined.

"How was your summer, Potter?" Draco asked.

"I almost got expelled because I saved my cousin from Dementors and no one believes that Voldemort is back on the rise."

"Cool. My dad tried to kill me. I think we're even."

Harry fell silent and Ron broke the quiet. "Look, what are we doing?"

"Getting ready for battle," Draco finally said, rising up. He nodded to Pansy who let go of Neville's hand to pull out a few different editions of the Daily Prophet.

Draco read the headlines aloud, slapping them down on the stone floor as he did so.

"Boy Who Lived to Cry Wolf. Harry Potter's obsession with the defeated Dark Lord threatens Muggles. Potter refuses to accept defeat. Potter is likely to resort to drastic measures to prove he's not a liar."

"It doesn't say that," Harry said, feeling sick.

"No it doesn't," Draco admitted. "But that's what everyone is thinking."

"Look, we know where we stand," Ginny interjected, not unkindly. "We need a plan."

"Already in motion, love," he said. Harry couldn't help but notice the way Ron's fists tightened when Draco said that.

Draco slapped the final paper onto the floor and everyone crowded close to look at it. It was dated for that day.

_Draco Malfoy to Resurrect the Dark Lord? The Shocking Confession of a School Boy's Attempts to Return He Who Must Not Be Named to Power._

Everyone looked at Draco who looked pleased with himself.

"Are you stupid?" Hermione demanded. "No one is going to take that seriously!"

"They already have," Draco said. "Fudge has already had five meetings with Dumbledore about getting me expelled or put in Azkaban."

"But they can't believe that!" Hermione protested.

"Why?" Ginny demanded, her voice full of fury and disbelief. "We...you already proved you're good! Why jeopardize that?" she asked.

He sobered, barely able to meet her eyes. "It had to be done."

"Explain how that is," Ron scoffed.

"The world needs a villain," he said. "No one wants to believe that Voldemort is back."

"But why you?" Ginny demanded. "Why does it have to be you?"

"Because it's easier to believe than that I'm a good guy. The world needs someone to rally against so that when Voldemort comes out of the shadows, they're ready for this fight."

"You're going to get killed," Ron pointed out. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Thanks, Weasley," Draco drawled with a smile. "But we have more important things to handle."

"OWLS," Hermione said darkly.

"Mione," Ron groaned.

"Actually she's got it," Draco said. "Has anyone noticed that we're three weeks into school and Umbridge hasn't taught us a single fucking thing?"

"She keeps 'testing' students," Neville said. "She's using some powerful spells on them. I think some of them are illegal."

"They're all illegal," Pansy said. Harry suddenly noticed that she had a bruise on her left cheek.

She caught him looking and tilted her head to hide it.

"Pansy and I can only help so much," Draco said and Harry realized how Pansy had gotten that bruise. He felt new respect for the Slytherin girl.

"We need to teach the students to fend for themselves," Hermione said grimly.

Draco fired an imaginary gun at her. "The Know-it-all's got it again," he said but there was no sarcasm or malice in his tone. "Pansy and I can teach you most of the spells. More importantly, we can teach you how to counter them," he said.

"But the others aren't going to accept your guidance," Harry guessed.

"And Potter joins the ranks of those able to point out the obvious," Draco chuckled. Harry found he was growing to tolerate if not like the snarky Slytherin. "We need to keep our involvement a secret. Because of that," he gestured to the paper, "I'm welcomed back into the Slytherin ranks but I'm getting the feeling that they don't exactly trust me."

"Can't imagine why," Ron muttered.

"We won't tell," Hermione promised.

"Secret keeper," Harry blurted.

"Russian violinist," Draco said. Everyone looked at him. "What? Potter's not the only one who can say random stuff."

"I was trying to provide an idea," Harry said. "Not vocalize my every thought."

"My bad. I'm not used to you having socially acceptable ideas."

"You're saying we should appoint a secret keeper?" Hermione guessed.

"If we get caught teaching students, it's not a big deal," Ron said. "I don't think anyone will take it lightly if you two get caught," he said, referring to Draco and Pansy.

"I'll do it," Neville said. "I'll be secret keeper."

"Neville," Pansy began.

"They could torture you," Draco pointed out.

"Draco!" Ginny hissed.

"Way to sugar coat it," Harry said wryly.

"What?" Draco protested.

"It's fine," Neville said. "I can handle torture."

Harry frowned at him. He wondered what that was about.

(A/N: Oh, I love Draco. I had so much fun with him in this chapter.


End file.
